Investigations on the behaviour of acidic, basic and neutral compounds in capillary electrochromatography on a mixed-mode stationary phase

This work describes the separation of acidic, basic and neutral organic compounds as well as inorganic anions in a single run by capillary electrochromatography employing a stationary phase which exhibits both strong anion-exchange and reversed-phase chromatographic characteristics. The positive surface charge of this stationary phase provided a substantial anodic electroosmotic flow. The analytes were separated by a mixed-mode mechanism which comprised chromatographic interactions (hydrophobic interactions, ion-exchange) as well as electrophoretic migration. The influence of ion-exchange and hydrophobic interactions on the retention/migration of the analytes could be manipulated by varying the concentration of a competing ion and/or the amount of organic modifier present in the background electrolyte. Additionally the effects of pH changes on both the chromatographic interactions as well as the electrophoretic migration of the analytes were investigated.     

Separation of anions by ion chromatography-capillary electrophoresis

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) with a water-soluble ion-exchange polymer in the background electrolyte is very efficient for the separation of organic and inorganic anions because the ion-exchange selectivity, as well as differences in electrophoretic mobility, can be used for separating sample ions. Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDAC) was employed for this purpose. A very stable electroosmotic flow was obtained between pH 2.3 and 8.5 due to the strong adsorption of PDDAC onto the capillary wall. The effect of ion exchange on the migration of sample anions and their separation was controlled by varying the concentration of PDDAC, the concentration and the type of salt used in the CE background electrolyte. Addition of organic solvent (e.g., acetonitrile) could also modify the sample migration and the separation. Baseline separations were obtained for anions with very similar mobilities, such as bromide and iodide, naphthalenesulfonates, and bi- and tricarboxylic acids. Typical separation efficiencies were between 195,000 and 429,000 theoretical plates per meter. Ten replicate separations gave an average RSD of 1.0% for migration times of the sample anions studied. Excellent separations were obtained for a variety of samples, including a separation of 17 inorganic and organic anions in less than 6 min.     

Application of self-organizing maps for the classification of chromatographic systems and prediction of values of chromatographic quantities

The separation of a complex mixture of inorganic and organic anions by ion chromatography–capillary electrophoresis using a cationic polymer added to the background electrolyte and indirect UV detection has been studied. The addition of unmodified polymer to an electrolyte suitable for indirect detection resulted in the appearance of a system peak due to the counter-anion on the polymer and while the position of the analytes relative to this system peak could be changed, this was found to be an unacceptable approach for mixtures of large numbers of analytes. Although conversion of the polymer to replace the counter-ion with the indirect UV detection probe ion simplified the system, this approach restricted the flexibility of the system because the probe and polymer concentration were necessarily linked. This limitation could be overcome by selecting the appropriate type of probe ion, with probes having a low ion-exchange selectivity coefficient providing greater retention of analytes than probes with a high ion-exchange selectivity coefficient. Three electrolyte systems with different probes (benzoate, chromate and phthalate) were modelled using a previously derived migration equation and this was used to optimise the electrolyte composition to enable the separation of a mixture of 24 inorganic and organic anions within 7 min. The electrolyte composition was then optimised for the analysis of anions in Bayer liquor with the final separation selectivity being substantially improved for selected key analytes.     

Separation of opiate alkaloids by electrokinetic chromatography with sulfated-cyclodextrin as a pseudo-stationary phase

The separation of six related opiate alkaloids (morphine, thebaine, 10-hydroxythebaine, codeine, oripavine and laudanine) was studied using sulfated-cyclodextrin (s-CD) as a cation-exchange pseudo-stationary phase. Cation-exchange interactions between the cationic analytes and the anionic s-CD (7-11 mol of sulfate groups per mole CD) were found to bethe predominant mechanism, allowing the separations to be performed at low pH where the opiates are protonated and exhibit very similar mobilities. The concentrations of the s-CD and the competing ion (Na+ or Mg2+) in the electrolyte were used to govern the extent of the ion-exchange interactions. Interactions with the sulfated-cyclodextrin differed for each analyte, with oripavine exhibiting the strongest interaction and 10-thebaine and laudanine showing the weakest interactions. Despite the very similar structures of the analytes, these differences resulted in significant changes in separation selectivity. The separation was modelled using a migration equation derived from first principles and based on ion-exchange interactions between the s-CD and the opiates. Constants within the model were obtained by non-linear regression using a small subset of experimentally determined migration times. These constants related to the ion-exchange affinities of the s-CD for the various opiates. When the model was used to predict migration times under other experimental conditions, a very good correlation was obtained between observed and predicted mobilities (r2=0.996). Optimisation of the system was performed using the normalised resolution product and minimum resolution criteria and this process provided two optimised separations, each exhibiting a different separation selectivity.     

Tailoring orthogonal proteomic routines to understand protein separation during ion exchange chromatography

Surface charge, molecular weight, and folding state are known to influence protein chromatographic behaviour onto ion exchangers. Experimentally, information related to such factors can be gathered via 2-DE methods. The application of 2-D PAGE under denaturing/reducing conditions was already shown to reveal separation trends within a large protein population from cell extracts. However, ion-exchange chromatography normally runs under native conditions. A tailored protocol consisting in a first separation based on IEF on Immobiline strips under native conditions followed by a second dimension SDS-PAGE run was adopted. The chromatographic versus electrophoretic separation behaviours of two model proteins, thaumatin (TAU) and BSA, were compared to better understand which proteomic routine would be better suited to anticipate IEX chromatographic separations. It was observed that the information contained in the pI value obtained with the adapted 2-DE protocol showed better correlation with the IEX chromatographic behaviour. On the other hand, chromatographic separations performed in the presence of urea as a denaturant have demonstrated the potential influence of hydrodynamic radius/conformation on protein separation. Moreover, the information provided by such 2-D system correlated well with the chromatographic behaviour of an additional set of pure proteins. An initial prediction of protein ion-exchange chromatographic behaviour could be possible utilizing an experimental approach based on 2-DE running under milder chemical conditions. This technique provides information that more closely resembles the separation behaviour observed with a complex biotechnological feedstock.     

Chelating resin-impregnated paper chromatography, applications to trace element collection of ferrous and ferric ions, and determination by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry

An ion-exchange approach to the preparation of chelating resin is demonstrated whereby a typical sulfonated chelating agent, 7-iodo-8-hydroxy quinoline-5-sulfonic acid, is immobilized as counterions on a piperazinium polyelectrolyte matrix. The resulting chelate forming resin has been used to effect the selective separation of ferrous as well as ferric ion from a known mixture containing other trace elements without any complication of the leaching of either chelating ligand or resin from the stationary support. The chelating resin-impregnated paper chromatographic technique followed with differential pulse anodic stripping analysis is described for the preconcentration, separation, and recovery of divalent and trivalent ions of iron from the various heavy metals in aqueous phases. The combination of chelation and paper chromatography involves a differential migration procedure which provides a technique for the separation of analyte ions quantitatively without any interference from the complex matrices.     

Mixed-mode electrokinetic chromatography of aromatic bases with two pseudo-stationary phases and pH control

The electrokinetic chromatographic (EKC) separation of a series of aromatic bases was achieved utilising an electrolyte system comprising an anionic soluble polymer (polyvinylsulfonic acid, PVS) and a neutral beta-cyclodextrin (beta-CD) as pseudo-stationary phases. The separation mechanism was based on a combination of electrophoresis, ion-exchange interactions with PVS, and hydrophobic interactions with beta-CD. The extent of each chromatographic interaction was independently variable, allowing for control of the separation selectivity of the system. The ion-exchange and the hydrophobic interactions could be varied by changing the PVS and the beta-CD concentrations, respectively. Additionally, mobilities of the bases could be controlled by varying pH, due to their large range of pKa values. The separation system was very robust with reproducibility of migration times being <2% RSD. The two-dimensional parameter space defined by the two variables, [beta-CD] and %PVS, was modelled using a physical model derived from first principles. This model gave very good correlation between predicted and observed mobilities (r2=0.999) for the 13 aromatic bases and parameters derived from the model agreed with the expected ion-exchange and hydrophobic character of each analyte. The complexity of the mathematical model was increased to include pH and this three-dimensional system was modelled successfully using an artificial neural network (ANN). Optimisation of both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional systems was achieved using the normalised resolution product and minimum resolution criteria. An example of using the ANN to predict conditions needed to obtain a separation with a desired migration order between two of the analytes is also shown.     

Ion-exchange selectivities of amorphous and anatase-types hydrous titanium dioxides and the possible separation of bivalent transition metal ions

Summary Amorphous and anatase-type hydrous titanium dioxides showed typical amphoteric ion-exchange properties. The ion-exchange selectivity for bivalent transition metal ions was studied as a function of both pH and metal ion concentration in ammonium nitrate media. The selectivity series was Co<Ni<Mn<Zn<Cd<Cu for the amorphous and Ni<Co<Mn<Zn<Cd<Cu for the anatase-type material. The separation factor on the anatase-type material is larger than on the amorphous material. Effective group separation of Co–Ni and Zn–Cd–Cu could be achieved on an ion-exchange column containing the anatase-type hydrous titanium dioxide.Part XXIV in a series on synthetic inorganic ion-exchange materials.     

Trace analysis of heavy metal ions by ion chromatography

Summary An ion chromatographic separation technique for heavy metal ions is described. Using pressure-stable, silica-based, ion-exchange supports and standard HPLC equipment with post-column reaction detector high resolution is achieved as well as extremely high sensitivity in the parts per trillion (ppt)-range.     

Investigation of the ion-exchange properties of methacrylate-based mixed-mode monolithic stationary phases employed as stationary phases in capillary electrochromatography

The potential of methacrylate-based mixed-mode monolithic stationary phases bearing sulfonic acid groups for the separation of positively charged analytes (alkylanilines, amino acids, and peptides) by capillary electrochromatography (CEC) is investigated. The retention mechanism of protonated alkylanilines as positively charged model solutes on these negatively charged mixed-mode stationary phases is investigated by studying the influence of mobile phase and stationary phase parameters on the corrected retention factor which was calculated by taking the electrophoretic mobility of the solutes into consideration. It is shown that both solvophobic and ion-exchange interactions contribute to the retention of these analytes. The dependence of the corrected retention factor on (1) the concentration of the counter ion ammonium and (2) the number of methylene groups in the alkyl chain of the model analytes investigated shows clearly that a one-site model (solvophobic and ion-exchange interactions take place simultaneously at a single type of site) has to be taken to describe the retention behaviour observed. Comparison of the CEC separation of these charged analytes with electrophoretic mobilities determined by open-tubular capillary electrophoresis shows that mainly chromatographic interactions (solvophobic and ion-exchange interactions) are responsible for the selectivity observed in CEC, while the electrophoretic migration of these analytes plays only a minor role.     

Recent developments in the separation of inorganic and small organic ions by capillary electrophoresis

Which method should I use for ion analysis, ion chromatography (IC) or capillary electrophoresis (CE)? In terms of actual theoretical plates CE has a clear-cut advantage. The separation ability of IC is adequate for many sample types, and many separation scientists feel that IC offers greater reliability and confidence than CE. However, IC is a more mature technique and there has been more time to solve problems such as peak tailing and to improve reproducibility. The two techniques should be viewed as complementary. A number of recent developments in ion analysis by CE are discussed. These include some simple ways to control electroosmotic flow and improve reproducibility, separation of isotopes, improved methods of indirect photometric detection, a new contactless conductivity detector, separation of ions at low pH, and in solutions of high salt content. Progress in a new technique called IC-CE will be described in which a soluble ion-exchange polymer is added to the capillary electrolyte to separate anions based on differences in both electrophoretic mobility and ion-exchange interactions.     

Capillary zone electrophoresis of histidine-containing compounds

Capillary zone electrophoresis has been tested for the separation of angiotensins, cationic heptapeptides and model histidine derivatives. Good separation efficiencies are seen for peptides and model compounds with negative to small positive net charges. For net charge greater than +2, addition of putrescine to pH 6 buffer greatly suppresses ion exchange at anionic sites on fused silica. When operating at pH values where histidine groups are neutral, addition of Zn2+ allows separations based on metal, rather than proton, binding. Separation efficiencies and relative migration times are dependent on capillary length when ion-exchange behavior occurs.     

Factors affecting selectivity in ion chromatography

Methods for separation of ions by ion-exchange, ion-pair, and zwitterion ion chromatography share at least one common thread--the induced formation of a cation-anion pair in the stationary phase. Selectivity can be defined as the relative ability of sample ions to form such a pair. Examples are given in anion-exchange chromatography to show the effect of variations in the geometry, bulkiness and polarity of the resin cation on selectivity. The type of resin matrix, the hydrophobic nature of the resin surface and the degree of solvation also affect chromatographic behavior. The selectivity series observed in ion chromatography seems to be best explained by the interplay of two components: electrostatic attraction (ES) and the enforced-pairing (EP) that is brought about by hydrophobic attraction and by water-enforced ion pairing. Selectivity in ion-pair chromatography (IPC) and in zwitterion ion chromatography (ZIC) is affected by both the mobile phase cation and anion. This leads to elution orders for anions that are different from conventional ion-exchange chromatography (IC) of anions where cations are excluded from the stationary phase and have little effect on a separation. The elution order of anions in ZIC is similar to that in IC except for small anions of 2-charge, which are retained more weakly in ZIC. A unique advantage of ZIC is that sample ions can be eluted as ion pairs with pure water as the eluent and a conductivity detector. The mechanism for separation of anions on a zwitterionic stationary phase has been a subject for considerable debate. The available facts point strongly to a partitioning mechanism or a mixed mechanism in which partitioning is dominant with a weaker ion-exchange component.     

Pressurized-flow anion-exchange capillary electrochromatography using a polymeric ion-exchange stationary phase

The feasibility of using capillary columns equipped with silica frits and packed with a polymer-based anion exchanger (Dionex AS9-HC) for CEC separations of inorganic anions has been investigated. Experiments using a conventional 25 cm packed bed, and mobile phase flow that is a combination of hydrodynamic and electroosmotic flow were used to demonstrate that by varying the applied voltage (electrophoresis component) or the concentration of the competing ion in the mobile phase (ion-exchange component), considerable changes in the separation selectivity could be obtained. Using an artificial neural network, this separation system was modelled and the results obtained used to determine the optimum conditions (9 mM perchlorate and −10 kV) for the separation of eight inorganic anions. When a short (8 cm) packed bed was used, with detection immediately following the packed section, the separation of eight test analytes in under 2.2 min was possible using pressure-driven flow and a simple step voltage gradient. A more rapid separation of these analytes was obtained by only applying high voltage (−30 kV), where many of the same analytes were separated in less than 20 s and with a different separation selectivity to that obtained in conventional ion-exchange or capillary electrophoresis separations.     

Study of ion chromatography with ion-exchange fibers as the stationary phase

The application of ion-exchange fibers as the stationary phase in ion chromatography for the separation of inorganic anions has been studied. Results indicate that a separator column packed with VS-2 anion-exchange fibers and a suppressor column packed with VS-1 cation-exchange fibers have a similar separation efficiency to small-particle resin columns, but that the column pressure drop (ΔP) in fiber columns in only one-tenth of that in resin columns, at the same flow-rate. This allows the separation to be performed efficiently at a higher flow-rate and with lower presure, as shown for the separation of an anion mixture.     

Use of contactless conductivity detection for non-invasive characterisation of monolithic stationary-phase coatings for application in capillary ion chromatography

A capacitively-coupled contactless conductivity detector (C4D) has been utilised as an on-capillary detector within a capillary ion chromatograph, incorporating a reversed-phase monolithic silica capillary column semi-permanently modified with a suitable ionic surfactant. The monolithic capillary column (150 x 0.1 mm i.d.) was modified using sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate (DOSS), an anionic surfactant, for the separation of small inorganic and organic cations. With the use of the on-capillary conductivity detector, the longitudinal homogeneity and temporal stability of the coating were investigated. The approach allowed a detailed non-invasive observation of the nature of the ion-exchange coating over time, and an example of an application of the technique to produce a longitudinal stationary-phase charge gradient is shown. An investigation of the basis of the measured on-capillary conductivity was carried out with a counter ion study, clearly showing the on-capillary detection technique could also distinguish between chemical forms of the immobilised ion exchanger. The above method was used to produce a stable and homogeneously-modified monolithic ion-exchange capillary column, for application to the separation of inorganic alkaline earth cations and amino acids.     

Determination of pharmaceutically related compounds by suppressed ion chromatography: I. Effects of organic solvent on suppressor performance

This overall study aims to investigate gradient elution ion-exchange chromatography of pharmaceutically relevant compounds using universal nebulisation detectors, such as evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD). Addition of organic solvents to the eluent is necessary to minimise hydrophobic adsorption on the polymeric stationary phase and improve solubility of analytes. It is also necessary to de-salt the eluent prior to detection, and in this work, ion chromatography suppressors were used for this step. Such suppressors have been designed for aqueous eluents, so the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of methanol and acetonitrile on suppressor performance. Chemical and electrolytic suppressors were evaluated for baseline drift, noise and efficiency of suppression using aqueous/organic eluents containing up to 40% (v/v) methanol or acetonitrile. Chemical suppression of aqueous/organic eluents showed minimal noise levels, uniform low baseline and low gradient drift. Electrolytic suppression gave good performance, but with higher baseline conductivity levels and baseline drift than chemical suppression. The elevated baseline was found not to be caused by incomplete suppression of the eluent, but was attributed to chemical reactions involving the organic solvents and facilitated by high electric currents and heat generation. It was demonstrated that suppressed ion-exchange separation using a complex KOH elution profile could be coupled with ELSD, with the suppressor effectively de-salting the eluent, producing a stable baseline. Finally, complementary separation selectivity was demonstrated using a set of pharmaceutically related organic acids separated by reversed-phase and ion-exchange methods.     

Separation of Selected Beta Lactam Antibiotic Epimers on Gamma Cyclodextrin,Ion Exchange Ethylvinylbenzene/Divinylbenzene/Copolymer and Poly(Styrene-Divinylbenzene) Copolymer Stationary Phases

Abstract

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) stationary phases of gamma cyclodextrin, ion exchange ethylvinylbenzene/divinylbenzene (EVB/DVB) copolymer and poly (Styrene-divinylbenzene) (PRP-1) copolymer were investigated for the separation of beta lactam antibiotic epimers of cephalexin, moxalactam, ticarcillin, and carbenicillin. A combination of ion pair chromatography and inclusion complex formation improved the selectivity of moxalactam epimers on gamma cyclodextrin but had no effect on cephalexin epimers. A 10% increase in resolution was obtained for the moxalactam epimers on gamma cyclodextrin when 3mM tetrapropylammonium bromide was present in the mobile phase. Ion-exchange and reverse phase properties of the ion-exchange EVB/DVB phase coupled with perchlorate or sodium pentane sulfonate ion pair chromatography were also successful in separating some of the epimers. Retention and separation behavior of the analytes could not be easily predicted using this multiphase system. The PRP-1 phase was capable of easily resolving the epimers studied with minor adjustments in the mobile phase pH and organic modifier concentration. The PRP-1 phase would be highly recommended for the separation of antibiotic epimers based on the model compounds studied.